Ironing board cover and method of making the same



D. E. ASHLEY Nov. 5, 1957 IRONING BOARD COVER AND METHOD OF MAKING THESAME Filed Dec. 50, 1954 Fla. 6.

INVENTOR.

United States Patent IRONING BOARD COVER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAMEDorothy Eloise Ashley, Elkhart, Ind.

Application December 30, 1954, Serial No. 478,745

4 Claims. (Cl. 38-140) This invention relates to improvements in ironingboard i Co-.vers manufactured by the first above named method haye thedisadvantage that the overstitching of the material-causes the device tohave short life if washed in a washing machine. Y A disadvantage ofcovers produced by the second. method mentioned is that they have atendency to lose desired shape as .a result of washing and drying.

.Another disadvantage of .covers made by the second method is that .alarge amount of material is required to .form the binding or pocket toconfine the elastic strip, and a large amount of time is required to cutthe binding asa separate operation, thus rendering the cost high.

It is the primary object of this invention to' provide an ironing. board.cover having an elastic sheath which holds its shape during washing anddrying, which is strong 'andgives long wear and which provides aproportioned lit of the .cover to the table top or board.

A further object is to provide a method of making an ironing board-coverwhich requires only a'minimum amount of yardage of material to form afacing or sheath to receive an elastic.

Other objects .will be apparent from the following specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view illustrating the manner in which the parts to formthecover are cut from a sheet of material and therelation of that sheetand the cutting outline to the table top outline on which the cover isto fit;

.Fig. '2 illustrates the step of changing the dimension of one of theparts from the size originally cut, as illustrated in the dotted lines,to the size illustrated in full lines;

Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the manner in which one step of theoperation of forming an elastic sheath is performed;

Fig. 4 is a view illustrating the elastic sheath completed;

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of a table top having my new cover pad appliedthereto; and

Fig. dis a sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing which illustrates the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, the numeral 10 designates a table top of an ironing tablewhich is adapted to be covered by a pad 12 and which is spanned by acover member 14 having inturned marginal portions 16 extending aroundthe edges of the table and bearing against the margins of the bottomface of the table top, as illustrated in Fig. 6. Marginal elastic iscarried by the sheet 14 and its normal size is such that the margins ofthe sheet 7 2,811,795 Patented Nov. 5,1957

are constrictedand of lesser outline and size than the fiat shape of thesheet forming the cover.

The first step in the manufacture of the cover sheet 14 is to cut fromthe substantially rectangular blank 20 a sheet 22 along cut lines 24, 28and 30. In the case of a conventional ironing board having side edgeportions at one end thereof converging at 26, the blank 22 will haveapproximately the relation shown with the cut lines 24, 28, 30 assumingthe same overall approximate shape as the ironing board table top but ofsubstantially larger size. The overall length of the blank 22 will besubstantially greater than the overall length of the table 10 with thespacing between the side tapered edges of a table centered on the blankand the side tapered edges of the blank at narrow end of each somewhatless than the spacing between the side edges of said table and blank atthe Wide rectangular end of each. The longitudinal cut lines 28, whichdefine the overall width at the rectangular portion of the blank 22,will preferably be such that the spacing between the sides of the tablecentered thereon and said edges will be somewhat less than the spacingof the table from the ends of the blank, as seen in Fig. 1. Theconverging cut lines 30 at the small dimension end of the table top willpreferably converge at a greater angle than do the edges 26 of thetable. In other words, as seen in Fig. 1, when the table top 10 iscentered upon the blank 22, the table edges 26 will extend at an angleto the .cut lines 30 so that the clearance of .the edges 26 with the outline 30 at the small diameter end of each is less than the clearancebetween the table and blank edges adjacent to the parallel longitudinalcut lines 28.

The blank sheet 20 from which the blank 22 is cut is substantiallylarger than'the cover blank 22 and accommodates the cutting therefrom ofa marginal strip 32 of substantially uniform width extending completelyaround the cover blank 22 and defined by cut lines 34. In cutting thecover blank 22 and the margin strip 32, it is important to observe thelay of the Warp and woof of the fabric to make sure that the warp andwoof are truly perpendicular to one another. The pattern by which theparts are out should be oriented accurately relative to the warp andwoof so that the principal cut lines extend parallel thereto.

The next step in the manufacture of the cover is to reduce the size ofthe marginal strip 32 from the size in which it is originally cut, andwhich is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, to the size illustratedin full lines in Fig. 2. This is .done by stitching transverse tucks inthe marginal member at a plurality of points 36, as seen in Fig. 2. Twoor more tucks 36 may be formed, but I prefer to use three tucks arrangedsubstantially as illustrated in Fig. 2, that is, one tuck at each of thecorners at the wide end of the strip and a tuck in the opposite end.

The next step is to superimpose the reduced marginal strip 32 upon thecover sheet 22 with its edges in register with the cover sheet 22, asillustrated in Fig. 3. Thereupon a line of stitching 33 is formed aroundthe outer margins of the superimposed parts, as seen in Fig. 3.

The next step in the operation is to invert the parts 22 and 32 to theposition shown in Fig. 4, entailing folding of the cover sheet 22 at 40inwardly of and adjacent to the stitching 38 and folding the marginalstrip 32 at 42, followed by folding under the opposite or free margin ofthe strip 32 at 44 so that it may be stitched at 46 to the cover sheet22 spaced inwardly from the outer margin of the sheet 22. This forms asheath extending continuously around the sheet 22 which is characterizedby protected stitching and which possesses substantial strength. It willbe understood that this sheath, which is in the nature of a formedfitted facing, is not completely conlargest piece cut therefrom.

a a tinuous but is interrupted to provide an aperture atone point in itslength to accommodate the insertion and removal of elastic 48. Thelength of the elastic employed will, in its normal or unextendedcondition, be less than the perimeter of the sheath so as to constrictthe margins of the sheath to a dimension substantially less than theoverall dimension of the table top 10.

The manner in which the cover fits the top of the table is illustratedin Fig. 5. Observe that the under lap 50 at the ends of the table boardis substantially greater than the underlap 52 at the sides of the board,and that the underlap at 54 at the narrow end of the board progressivelydiminishes from the underlap 52 to the under lap 50. This provides aproportion fit entailing minimum wrinkling of the cover at the bottom ofthe table top and a substantially flat continuous unwrinkled positioningof the cover across the top of the board. This relation of the partsfurther has the advantage that the cover tends to maintain a centeredand properly oriented position upon the table at all times, and is notdislodged or shifted incident to use of the ironing board. That is,tendency of the ironing board cover to creep is substantially avoided.

By reason of the strength of the sheath formed in this manner, theelastic sheath holds its shape during washing the size of the blank orsheet, from which the device is to be formed, need not be substantiallygreater than the In other words, waste is reduced to a minimum.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it will be understood that of the invention.

I claim:

1. The method of making an ironing table top cover, consisting of thesteps of cutting a fabric sheet to form a cover blank of a size largerthan said table top and of a shape similar to the shape of said tabletop, cutting a narrow fabric marginal portion of substantially uniformwidth around said blank, the majority of the edges of said blank andsaid uniform marginal portion being cut parallel to the warp and Woof ofthe fabric, stitching tucks at spaced points of said marginal portion toreduce the perimetral dimension thereof to substantially equal theperimetral dimension of said blank without substantially disturbing thedirection of the warp and woof thereof, superimposing said marginalportion on said blank in registry with the marginal edge portion of theblank,

stitching said blank and portion continuously adjacent the outer edgesthereof, folding said blank and marginal portion adjacent to saidstitching to conceal the stitching, and then stitching the inner edgesof said marginal portion to said blank spaced from said first stitching.

2. The method of making an ironing table top cover for a table tophaving a tapered end portion, comprising cutting a fabric sheetsubstantially along the warp and woof thereof to form a cover blank of asize larger than said table top and of a shape similar to the shape ofsaid table top and characterized by a length to have a greater underlaprelative to said table top at its ends than at its sides and by atapered end portion providing a tapered and narrower side underlap ofsaid table top adjacent to the tapered end portion of the table top thanat the remainder of the sides of said table top, cutting a narrow fabricmarginal portion of substantially uniform width around said blank andsubstantially along the warp and woof thereof, stitching tucks at spacedpoints of said marginal portion to reduce the perimetral dimensionthereof to substantially equal the perimetral dimension of said blank,superimposing said marginal portion on said blank in registry with themarginal edge portion of the blank, stitching said blank and portioncontinuously adjacent the outer edges thereof, folding said blank andmarginal portion adjacent to said stitching to conceal the stitching,and then stitching the inner edges of said marginal portion to saidblank spaced from said first stitching.

3. An ironing table cover comprising an elongated fabric sheet havingone end portion somewhat narrower than the other end and conforming inshape to a conventional table top, a marginal'member secured inoverlapping relation to the side edge portion of the sheet throughoutthe perimeter of the sheet, the outer edges of the marginal member andthe edges of the sheet extending inwardly between the edge portion ofthe fabric sheet and the marginal member and secured togethertherebetween, the

inner edge of the marginal member being secured to the fabric sheetthroughout substantially its entire periphery, the said edge portion ofthe fabric sheet and marginal member forming a sheath for reception ofan elastic band, and in the unstretched-condition'being of a length lessthan the normal peripheral length of said sheet, the warp of thematerial being arranged parallel to the longitudinal center line of thecover.

4. An ironing table cover as defined in claim 3 in which the warp andwoof of the marginal member extends in a direction corresponding to thewarp and woof of the edge portions of the fabric sheet which itoverlies.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,031,595 Finck Feb. 25, 1936 2,269,804 Allaback Jan. 13, 1942 2,418,969Di Gesare Apr. 15, 1947 2,644,257 Emmett et a1. July 7, 1953

